Mounds built by Mississippian culture a millennium ago - Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site 198 Cahokia mound: Monks Mound What and Why During the turn of the last millennium, a native Mississippian culture and polity called Cahokia (pronounced /kəˈhoʊkiə/ ) settled near the present town of Collinsville and built a major city, lasting from mid-9th century to mid-14th century. During its heyday, the city covered more than 15 km² and had around 20,000 people, making this va

A treat for speleogists: world's longest cave system - Mammoth Cave National Park 150 Mammoth Cave What and Why The Mammoth Cave National Park , containing the same-named cave, is the longest known cave system in the world . The cave system connects two cave systems: the original Mammoth Cave and an even larger Flint Ridge, and forms a humongous cave passageways of more than 686 km, and this number is still growing with new discoveries every year. This connexion was made in

A beautiful park with an impressive ecosystem under a blue haze cover - Great Smoky Mountains National Park 259 Great Smoky Mountains National Park What and Why The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is surprisingly the most popular national parks in America , way more visited than the more well-known Yellowstone National Park (as blogged in Yellowstone - North loop and Yellowstone - South loop ). Edging the Appalachian Mountains , it protects some of the oldest and hi

The world's tallest trees - Redwood National and State Parks 134 Redwood National and State Parks What and Why The Redwood National and State Park is a park in the North California famous of its groves of huge trees. I n fact, Redwood is known as the home to the tallest trees on Earth, some of them more 100 m tall and have lived for more than a thousand years. These trees, mainly sequoia or redwood, are the tallest, largest and oldest, and one of the most massive tree sp

Protected native area and ecosystems across two countries - Waterton Glacier International Peace Park 354 Waterton Glacier International Peace Park What and Why Glacier National Park is a national park located at the northern border of America renowned for its extensive ecosystems: both in terms of animal and plants and hence it is often referred to as the ' Crown of the Continent Ecosystem '. Together with the Waterton Lakes Park of Canada , it forms the Waterton-Glacier

National park with three distinctive climates - Olympic National Park 151 Olympic National Park What and Why Olympic National Park is a national forest distinctive in a number of ways: It is a relative small area but within the park there are three or four distinct ecosystems , including subalpine forest , temperate forest , glaciated mountains , and the rugged Pacific coast. As a result it offers a diversity of distinct endemism and plant species that varies within the pa

Largest icefield in North America - Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks 304 What and Why The largest of the Canadian Rock Mountain Parks,...

The ultimate photospot of the Rockies - Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks 340 Lake Louise What and Why Banff National Park , is one of the six national parks around the Canadian Rockies that form the UNESCO WHS Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks . Banff National Park is actually the first national park of Canada , established since the late 19th century, and is famous for its exceptionally picturesque landscape, especially the glaciers, glacial lakes, snow mountains and alpine fores

A high cliff to kill buffaloes and bisons to feed the tribes - Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump 158 What and Why It is not an...

Ancestral Puebloan palace in a cavern - Mesa Verde National Park 27 What and Why One of the most remarkable ancestral Pueblos to be seen,...

Ancestral pueblos of prehistoric American Indian communities - Chaco Culture 353 What and Why Between the 9th to 12th century CE, the...

Ancient adobe village in the desert area - Taos Pueblo 492 What and Why The Taos Pueblo is an ancient village, constructed as early as...

Park of fire and water; and perhaps the origin of the end of the world - Yellowstone National Park 28 Yellowstone signboard What and Why The fact that I have to do a Part II of this UNESCO WHS shows how much is there to offer from this Park. The Yellowstone volcano is the largest volcanic system in North America and is termed as a ' supervolcano ' because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions and is one of the seven in the world. The magma chambe

Park of fire and water; and perhaps the origin of the end of the world - Yellowstone National Park 28 Prismatic Spring What and Why Yellowstone National Park possesses two firsts in history: the first national park in the world in 1872 (this might be disputed depending on definition) and the first UNESCO WHS together with 11 others, inscribed in 1978. The park is well known for its geothermal features and extensive wildlife and is so huge (close to 9000 km2, around the siz

Icon of freedom of the new world - Statue of Liberty 307; The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright 1496 Statue of Liberty What and Why The Statue of Liberty or formally 'Liberty Enlightening the World', is the icon of the free world, full stop. The copper statue of Libertas (Latin for liberty), was a gift from France to America in 1886. The statue has seen become literally the signature of America. Why Libertas? In early American history, two female figures